Otago Medical School staff profiles

Dr Simon Walker

Moral philosophy, the nature of value, meaning, suffering, end of life care.

Teaching

Ethics to students of medicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy, and dentistry and oral health. BITC 301, BITC 401.

Research

Simon is familiar with a wide range of philosophical authors, and has a particular interest in the works of Kant, Wittgenstein, and Spinoza. While working as a palliative care researcher he became interested in the links between moral philosophy and our understanding of health, and began reading healthcare literature exploring this connection. He discovered a broad acceptance of the idea that a person's values will shape their experience of and response to suffering, and yet that this relationship is scarcely mentioned in contemporary ethical discourse.

He is currently developing a conception of ethics that shows the fundamental link between values and suffering, and which indicates how and to what extent life may retain value in the midst of suffering. This research draws on many different sources, including clinical experience, ancient and modern philosophy, and literature